French sales agents clean up at Berlin

26/02/2018 - BERLIN 2018: Doc & Film, Memento, Luxbox, Le Pacte and Alpha Violet are selling all the Bear winners bar one, while the other French sellers were not to be outdone either

Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie

The winners’ list of the 68th Berlin Film Festival served to cement the supremacy of the French international sales agents, which are not only negotiating deals for films produced all around the world, but also have an undeniable knack for choosing the most talented filmmakers, judging solely by the seven Bears won by features on their line-ups this year. These accolades will no doubt boost the sales of these titles, which have already been marketed very successfully during the European Film Market.

Luxbox stood out from the crowd with three awards: the two Silver Bears that were bestowed upon The Heiresses[+see also: film reviewtrailerfilm profile] by Paraguay’s Marcelo Martinessi (Alfred Bauer Prize and Best Actress, for Ana Brun) and the one for Best Script handed to the Mexican film Museum. Interestingly, The Heiresses has already been acquired for the UK (Thunderbird Releasing), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (Bteam), Scandinavia and the Baltic countries (Edge), France (Rouge International), the Benelux (Contact), Switzerland (Cineworx), Greece (Weird Wave) and China (Time Vision).

Le Pacte will be patting itself on the back for the Silver Bear for Best Actor scooped by Anthony Bajon for his turn in The Prayer[+see also: film reviewtrailerfilm focusinterview: Cédric Kahnfilm profile] by Cédric Kahn, which was produced by Sylvie Pialat and Benoît Quainon for Les Films du Worso. Incidentally, Les Films du Worso and Le Pacte will partner up once again for the next feature by Kahn, Joyeux anniversaire, which will star Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Bercot and Vincent Macaigne.

Alpha Violet sealed some great deals for Dovlatov[+see also: film reviewtrailerfilm profile] by Russia’s Alexei German Jr, which was singled out in the winners’ list with a Silver Bear for Best Artistic Contribution (costumes and production design) and has already been acquired by Netflix for all English-speaking territories (the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK and Ireland) and Scandinavia. At Berlin, the feature was sold for a total of 23 territories.

Furthermore, Bac Films did some great business pre-selling Notti Magiche by Italy’s Paolo Virzi (see the article), as did Memento with The Wild Pear Tree by Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and Wild Bunch did likewise with La quietud by Argentina’s Pablo Trapero.

Pathé Films will be at the Cannes Film Market to kick off pre-sales for Blessed Virgin, the new French film by Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, an SBS production for which the shoot will get under way in August, toplined by Belgium’s Virginie Efira. Pathé has also sold the documentary The Quest of Alain Ducasse[+see also: trailerfilm profile] by Gilles de Maistre to Magnolia Pictures for North America after it was premiered in Berlin’s Culinary Cinema programme, a section that turned out to be highly lucrative for MK2 Films with Ramen Shop[+see also: trailerfilm profile] by Singapore’s Eric Khoo.

Wild Bunch has added The German Lesson by Germany’s Christian Schwochow (which will star three European Film Promotion Shooting Stars, namely Maria Dragus, Johanna Wokalek and Ulrich Noethen) to its slate, and continued successfully pre-selling the animated film Where Is Anne Frank? by Ari Folman.

Charades added Summer (Leto) by Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov, Harajuku by Norway’s Eirik Svensson (in post-production) and the US movie Skate Kitchen by Crystal Moselle (unveiled at the Sundance Film Festival) to its line-up.

latest news

Newsletter

Follow us on

About us

Cineuropa is the first European portal dedicated to cinema and audiovisual in 4 languages. With daily news, interviews, data bases, in-depth investigations into the audiovisual industry, Cineuropa aims at promoting the European film industry throughout the world. Welcome to a platform where professionals can meet and exchange information and ideas.